HAIL — Saudi Arabia intends to establish a 1,000 km-long canal linking the Arabian Gulf with the Arabian Sea, passing by the Kingdom to facilitate transport of oil, avoiding the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest issue of Al-Muhandis magazine, published by the Saudi Council of Engineers, has described the largest artificial canal as the project of the century and the Kingdom’s second renaissance.

Esmat Al-Hakeem, an engineer, said the Saudi Electricity Company is currently studying the project, which aims at not only transporting oil but also generating electricity using nuclear power.

The vital project was first proposed seven years ago. In the first phase it will be used to produce electricity. Later it will be transformed into the Kingdom’s second renaissance.

The new canal will start from the Arabian Sea and will pass through Omani and Yemeni borders before reaching Rub Al-Khali or the Empty Quarter in the Kingdom, the second largest desert in the world covering a total area of 600,000 square kilometers. More info